~ What We Are Growing, Breeding, Cooking, Crafting At Our Place ~
May 12th, 2011 by stoney acres
Just had to share with you these devine little measuring cups my daughter gave me for mothers day. They are melamine & I love them… of course Im quite partial to the chocolates she tucked into them too 
As she said, “its not mothers day without chocolate”.
Feb 5th, 2011 by stoney acres
In a small jar mix together:
If anybody actually reads my blog & wants the jam recipe, leave a comment & I will post it.
Beetroot Chutney
Feb 2nd, 2011 by stoney acres
Well, we ended up with about 25 entries in the Summer Show this weekend. Roses, Dahlias, Cut flowers, Fruit & Vege plus the wee boys Sand Saucers, Vege creation & Floral arrangements.
Of all that we got 13 firsts & only 3 items didn’t place. Not bad considering I had little idea what makes a good ‘show’ flower… just entered things that looked pretty really (& hadn’t been tormented by my chooks).
You can click on the pictures above if you want to see them larger .. things are looking a little droopy after 3 days on show.
I was blown away that my Dahlia ‘Pooh’ won the Premier Prize for Best Amateur Dahlia in show. I had the idea that dahlias had to be huge to be good & Pooh is relatively small & simple.. but, as I stood back & admired it on the prize bench, I could see it really was quite outstanding. The colours are so vibrant. I love it in the garden and all visitors comment on its beauty.
Pooh is a collarette dahlia & I’ve decided they will be my ‘thing’ .. so I spent most of yesterday morning scouring the internet for more beauties of this type. I have found 2 that I must have… Fuzzy Wuzzy & Bumble Rumble. I’m also going to order a packet of dahlia seeds & see what lovelies pop up out of it.
Jan 21st, 2011 by stoney acres
2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tsp. cream of tartar
food colouring (will turn out brighter than it looks in the pot)
Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan
Cook on low, stirring constantly, until the dough thickens to playdough consistency. Cool then knead a little before using.
I often halve the recipe & make two separate colours. Keeps for ages in a sealed container in the fridge .. if it doesnt get squished into toys or spread around the floor first! I also read somewhere than you can add vanilla to make it smell nice but my boys tend to eat playdough so I dont want to encourage that.
Jan 21st, 2011 by stoney acres
One of hubbys sweet lady customers runs the local Horticultural Show & has been asking us for 2 years to enter. Well, I’m biting the bullet & entering this month. She kindly showed me around her large show garden yesterday & gave me tips on how to prepare the dahlias. I’ve been round mine & pinched out all the side shoots. Hated doing it.. I like many flowers rather than one big one.. but lets hope it means I get something worthy of exhibiting next week.
Here’s some of my potential exhibition flowers …
Dahlia 'Pooh'
A dreadful name for a gorgeous flower!
Hopefully we’ll have some veges & fruit to exhibit too. We picked the first corn cobs yesterday. Then I forgot to cook them Must plant some more to come on later.. I planned to plant 6 every 2 weeks but lost it after 3 sowings.
I came home with some heritage dwarf beans & seeds from our lovely lady yesterday too. She’s been growing the same ones for 50 years & saves her seed. They really were great tasting beans so must go out & sow a row this afternoon.
Here’s how our vege garden is looking this week …
Rhubarb, Bean, Outdoor Tomatoes, Corn, Potatoes
Corn & Kumera
Jan 18th, 2011 by stoney acres
Its raining ( yay! make that grass grow )
The cooler weather inspires me to bake.
Cupcakes for the little boys ..
& Eltham Slice for the big boy ..
Both recipes are from Alison Gofton (Bake) & really easy.
And for me, the chocoholic, there’s the good ol’ Chocolate Chip biscuits. I use Alison Holsts recipe but add 1/4 cup of rolled oats.. just to feel like I’ve put something healthy in there!
Jan 12th, 2011 by stoney acres
Jan 11th, 2011 by stoney acres
I’ve been venturing out into our orchard in the cool of the morning to make the most of our fruit before the birds get it! This is one of the netting covered trees I have to fight my way into.. but at least the birds have to fight too.
Bird Netting Covered Plum Tree
We have 2 San Rosa plum trees full of lovely big juicy fruit.. the kind you have to eat outside because of all the juice running down your chin & arm. The chookies love them too & help keep the ground underneath clear of wind falls.
San Rosa Plum
We also have a first year Plumcot which I was eagerly awaiting. Its like a little sweet plum with more of an apricot texture.. just lovely… & so pretty on the tree too. In winter I will be getting handy hubby to graft a couple more of these to grow for sure.
Plumcots
Then Im over to the strawberry beds. We have two raised beds hubby rebuilt this year full of assorted varieties. The raised beds are wonderful .. much easier to pick the fruit, clear the weeds & keep covered with bird netting. The first beds we made were much too wide to tend without having to stomp on them, so they’ve been cut in half.
Raised Bed - Strawberries
He also replanted our raspberries in raised beds .. to help contain them.. plus he’s spent a lot of hours putting in posts & wires to support them & the bird netting. We’ve had a few berries but hopefully they’ll come into their own next year to make all his labour worthwhile. Raspberries would have to be one of my favourite things. We have 4 different varieties & so far I’d have to say the little yellow ones (sold as Ivory) are the most consistant producers.. & the sweetest.
Raspberry Beds - Scarecrow 'Zohan' watches over them
Jan 7th, 2011 by stoney acres
Well, it seems that Lulu is not going to produce any babies for us after her 6 week visit with the buck last year. She is giving us 3 litres of milk a day, bless her, in spite of never giving birth (its called a maiden milker). Im quite disappointed tho .. aside from the $60 the buck cost us to borrow… Lulu is such a sweet natured girl & I really would have loved a coloured baby.
You will see in previous posts that we lost our lovely Zha Zha, soon after mating. We replaced her with Jane.. I not sure why!
Jane
Jane has personality for sure & is probably just a spirited young thing, but her antics are slightly annoying.. the way she leaps up at the fence & insists on squeezing into the small chook house to eat their mulch & food. Her best feature, & the reason I bought her, is that she is naturally polled (that is, does not have horns). She is Nubian Saanen the same as Zha Zha was.. & she has the same ‘semi-floppy’ ears.
Our old girl, Rosie, is still giving us a litre of milk a day.. its now 14 months since she gave birth. Her milk production dropped so low that we nearly dried her off but, when the mating season was over, production suddenly went up again.
Dec 25th, 2010 by stoney acres
Whew.. made it through another Christmas &, for once, I managed not to eat so much that I felt sick
The day was not without a little disappointment… the strong winds made it too unpleasant to take the boys & their new blow up boat to the river but we’ll save that adventure for another day.
Hope all you readers had a great day.
Just wanted to share a picture of the home made cards & gifts I made this year.. the steamed puddings were Raisin & Ginger, a recipe I found in the 2005 Christmas edition of Better Homes & Gardens magazine &, while I didnt try one myself (I’m a trifle girl), I had reports that they were very good. I also have to recommend another recipe we used today from the latest Taste magazine.. the Cranberry Pastry Stars.. so easy, attractive & delish
Tags: Christmas, hand made gifts
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